WHITNEY HOUSTON - I Will Always Love You
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - Under The Bridge
U2 - One
BOYZ II MEN - End Of The Road
MARIAH CAREY - I'll Be There
VANESSA WILLIAMS - Save The Best For Last
ERIC CLAPTON - Tears In Heaven
CELINE DION - If You Asked Me To
MR. BIG - To Be With You
GEORGE MICHAEL & ELTON JOHN - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

By 1992 the concept of love ballads had become completely exploited as a commercial art form.
One of the artists who had over-commercialized love songs was Michael Bolton with his over-the-top
vocal style. It was almost as if lyrics and melody no longer mattered as long as the singer screamed
with emotion. It was this style, along with the more bland background presentation that began to
dominate adult contemporary playlists. Celine Dion ultimately became the female version of the
screaming balladeer.

It's important to remember, however, that the radical changes in pop music were not due to market
command. It has always been a common misconception that whatever is high on the charts is a reflection
of the "people's choice." For the most part, high chart positions have been a result of substantial
radio airplay, which doesn't always correspond with sales. Usually sustained popularity of artists
such as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, do in fact parallel sales. But just because
a song gets played in high rotation doesn't mean it's popular. It could be for promotional reasons
or interests within the radio programming team, perhaps to corner the market for a certain sound.

The pop music scene had suffered signifcant image blows in the early part of the 90s due to the
revelations that certain artists like Milli Vanilli were not even the singers on their recordings.
In other words, the public image didn't match the studio personnel sometimes. It was also revealed
that several pop stars did not sing live in concert and that they were merely lypsincing to a backing
track. Another complaint was that pop music was becoming too slick and over-produced.